Aurora , Colorado -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Most businesses would hate to see their customers running out their doors , but in one suburban strip mall near Denver , Colorado , they are chasing the customers away -- with a chainsaw .

`` We 're ` hauntrepreneurs , ' we like to do things that are just a little bit different , '' says KathE Walker , who owns four haunted houses in the Denver area .

`` It 's really exciting because you know you 've done a good job , '' Walker says . `` If they are running out screaming , then the actors have done their jobs , everybody has had a good time because they want to be scared . That 's why they come .

`` If they 're not scared , they wo n't come back . ''

KathE Walker -- the capital E is n't a typo , `` it 's a '60s thing , '' she says -- laughs a lot for a woman in the business of scaring her customers . Walker , 59 , runs her haunts with her husband and two grown sons .

They spend the rest of the year making props for other haunted houses around the country and they throw a big science fiction convention each spring .

Despite the tough economy , Walker says , business is good . She anticipates a total of 40,000-50 ,000 visitors , each paying $ 14.95 to get scared . She employs about 175 people for the Halloween season .

Three of her haunts are in unused storefronts in suburban strip malls and a fourth operates out of trailers in a field near a state park . Visitors are also asked to contribute a can of food for a local food bank .

Larry Kirchner , president of the Haunted House Association , says business is booming across the country for seasonal frightfests . The association says there are 2,000 for-profit haunts across the country , plus another 1,000 houses run for charity .

Around 20 million fright-seekers will pay an average of $ 15 a visit this Halloween season , according to the group . That 's a surprising figure to some in these lean economic times .

`` We feel very fortunate , '' Walker says . `` I know that the economy is very scary for a lot of people . The people that we aim the haunted houses at are kids in high school and college , kids that have a lot more disposable income . They 're still living with their parents .

`` We do n't draw a lot of people that are desperate to make their mortgages . ... It 's great date-night stuff . Guys love bringing their girlfriends here , they 're holding onto them . It 's fun . ''

It 's fun for Walker , too . While giving a tour of Slaughterhouse Gulch , which features a series of movie monsters , she giggles as a cluster of date-night teenagers scream and run from Leatherface , the villain from the `` Texas Chainsaw Massacre '' films .

`` You make some money , obviously that 's why you keep doing it , '' she says . `` But for the most part we put a lot of money back into the haunted house so we can keep making them bigger and better . ... It can be kind of expensive . You cross your fingers each year hoping people will come . ''

Walker says she loves the challenge of scaring people .

`` Some people come in and they say ` Oh you ca n't scare me , ' '' she says . `` And they all end up running out of here , just terrified . ''

So what scares Walker ?

`` Clowns . I hate clowns . It took me a long time to finally let clowns be in the haunted house . ''

` Scaring people is really fun '

Walker staffs her haunted houses with teens and 20-somethings who seem to have as much fun as the patrons .

In the makeup room , Chris Parish is getting ready for his first day on the job . He 'll be playing the guy chained in the bathtub from the movie `` Saw . ''

`` Today is my first day scheduled , so I actually get to get paid for scaring people , '' he says . `` Scaring people is really fun and it 's something that I love to do . ''

Halloween is makeup artist Michael Garvin 's favorite time of year . He was laid off in July and has n't been able to find another job , but during October he works days at a costume shop and nights making up the 35-40 actors who fill two of Walker 's haunts .

`` When I was really young I fell in love with Halloween and then horror movies , '' he said . `` I love this . I 'd do this just for the fun of it , but the paycheck at the end of the month is a good thing . ''

Caity Strother is 18 and has had trouble finding a job . It 's her second year working in Slaughterhouse Gulch , where she specializes in portraying an undead ghoul .

`` I 've filled out probably 50 applications in the last two months and gotten maybe four calls back , '' she said .

Years of Catholic school have given Strother a skill that prospective employers have not been impressed by , but she puts it to good use in the haunted house .

`` I get to yell at people in Latin , '' she says .

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Denver-area `` hauntrepreneur '' runs four haunted houses with husband , two adult sons

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Haunted House Association says business is booming despite the lean economy

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20 million visitors are expected nationwide this year , each paying an average of $ 15

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About a third of the 3,000 houses in the United States benefit charity , group says